Spun-off AOL will axe a third of is workforce

AOL is preparing to cut around 2,500 staff, one third of its workforce, when it is spun off from media giant Time Warner next month.The struggling firm said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that the cuts are part of its plan to save $300m (£180.5m).“Today we have announced a voluntary lay-off programme, which will begin in the US on 4 December and run to 11 December, and are looking for up to 2,500 volunteers,” an AOL spokesman said yesterday.The firm is considering offering a similar programme in other regions, but was unable to comment on locations that may be affected.“We will need to implement involuntary lay-offs if we do not reach our target numbers with the involuntary option,” he added. AOL will become a separately traded company on 10 December, ending a blighted tie-up with Time Warner. The two firms merged in 2001, at the height of the dot-com boom, with AOL using its inflated share price as currency in the deal.But the value of AOL deflated dramatically when the dot-com bubble burst, and Time Warner was forced to make huge writedowns on the firm.